Legendary Vanilla Fudge guitarist Vince Martell called into my show on Monday night, and he is among those "waiting for this thing to pass so that we can get out and do some more gigs."

"The Fudge is ready to go," he said. Martell is a founding member of the band, whose biggest hit was "You Keep Me Hanging On." 

In the meantime, Martell is keeping busy.

"I'm doing a couple of videos up on YouTube. I'm also doing some concerts for the veterans," he said. Martell learned guitar in the Navy before forming The Pigeons, which would later become The Fudge.

"We did something for the Long Island Music Hall of Fame they just had on Channel 12 in Long Island. We try to keep it moving -- rock 'n' roll," he said.

He also has a new book coming out about the life and times of Vanilla Fudge.

Martell also had a lot of great memories of Vanilla Fudge.

"One great one," Martell said, "was when we did Red Rocks, Colorado with Jimi Hendrix, Soft Machine. We went over really great. Barry Fey, the promoter, said that we went over better than Jimi, which was something, and Jimi was a little uptight after that gig. He was the greatest. Jimi Hendrix was the best."

What was it like sharing a stage with Jimi Hendrix?

"Let me tell you, it was super intense, man. I remember one gig we did with him that when he was talking between songs you wouldn't hear a pin drop. Everybody was so quiet, like 3000 people in this place, but when he was talking, everybody was listening to every word he said. It was really something."

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise. Any opinions expressed are Steve's own. Steve Trevelise is on New Jersey 101.5 Monday-Thursday from 7pm-11pm. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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